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Broadview Upgrades its OfficeSuite Phone System with New Features including ACD

By Amanda Ciccatelli, TMCnet Web Editor

The term “cloud-based phone system” is relatively new but it describes a phone service that is delivered via the Internet. Before the introduction of VoIP, phone systems were based on the public switched telephone network (PSTN), copper wires that made up the global phone network. Then, it was possible to have a cloud-based phone system in the PSTN cloud, but the real use of the term came with the growing trend of cloud computing.

Today, a cloud-based phone system has the ability to deliver calls over the Internet, route inbound calls to the correct workers inside a company, and provide telephony applications like voicemail and call recording.

Recently, Broadview Networks (News - Alert), a provider of hosted voice, data and cloud computing solutions released new enhancements to its flagship cloud-based phone service, OfficeSuite, offering several upgraded features and equipment options. OfficeSuite provides businesses of any size with an IP-based phone system, unlimited nationwide calling, and a website to manage the service.

"Because Broadview owns the patented code behind the OfficeSuite technology, we can easily add, modify and upgrade features at any time," said Brian Crotty, chief operating officer at Broadview, in a statement. "This allows us to tailor our products and their features based on customer feedback and to provide a more personal, intuitive, high-quality solution."

The new OfficeSuite features include business hour management, allowing customers to set up call handling rules for different phones and different office locations based on business hours. This capability is also useful for accommodating shift work for multi-site businesses, or any organization that has groups of employees with very different work schedules.

Another feature, distinctive ring, gives employees the option to assign different ring tones to their desk phones for a variety of phone calls. This tool helps distinguish one phone from another in an open office environment, as well as instances in which internal versus external calls must be distinguishable.

Additionally, the enhanced OfficeSuite includes Automatic Call Distribution (ACD) sign in/sign out which is a function that gives OfficeSuite customers the ability to program their desk phones for one-touch login and logout of ACD queues.

New OfficeSuite products within the offering include a color touch screen LCD phone, which comes with a full-color, touch-screen LCD display, 48 programmable self-labeling keys across three pages, a full-duplex speakerphone, a variety of supported peripherals and an integrated 10/100/1000 switch for use in Gigabit LAN environments. Another product, the LCD Phone (News - Alert), comes with a LCD display, a full-duplex speakerphone, headset integration and superior sound and quality. Lastly, the Wireless Digital Enhanced Cordless Telecommunications (DECT (News - Alert)) handset and headset is cordless for OfficeSuite desk phones, giving employees the ability to move around the office without missing calls.

Broadview Networks is a company that also provides a portfolio of bundled, hosted IP phone and cloud computing services developed to meet the application requirements of diverse workforce groups.

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